Encore keeps listing the video file as untranscoded and wants to transcode it.

I've tried encoding just a portion of the video file instead of the whole thing using the same settings and when I bring this into Encore it recognizes it as Blu-ray legal and sets it to "Don't Transcode".

Can anyone think of a reason as to why this is happening? I really don't want to sit through another eight hour encode that could degregade pq further.

The imported file is a only-video file .264. I had edited the whole video in my Avid Media Composer - I never have worked with Premiere - and then I exported the file and encoded it with the MainConcept Reference BluRay-Encoder (CBR, 35Mbps) to a .264 video and an .ac3 audio file. And finally I want to import these files to Encore to add chapters and compile a bluray... without any re-transcoding...

A .264 file from x264Pro or MeGUI that is BD-legal will import into En and be automatically set to Do Not Transcode. So the file extension isn't the problem. There are some esoteric H.264 parameters in x264 that must be set precisely in order to have En set the .264 file to DNT. I suspect those same parameters will have to be set in MainConcept's encoder.

If you want to jump in the deep end, here are the x264 parameters that produce BD-legal output that also make En happy:

Well, x264 isn't part of En and I think the OP is using the stand-alone MainConcept encoder. H.264 Blu-ray from either Pr or En using the built in MC encoder always produces files that don't transcode in En if a proper preset is used.

Nevertheless, I have the impression that Encore also uses the MainConcept, because in the advance settings of the transcoding, in the line "Codec" the "MainConcept" is displayed (I cannot change this and cannot see other possibilities of Encding codecs).

However, I will control and compare theencoding parameters of the imported .264 file...

Jeff: what i meant was this info about what legal BD parameters should be.

Ah, I misunderstood. Sorry about that. You are correct -- that information should be available to the user. Adobe assumes everyone will encode with the built-in suite tools, but that's just not the case anymore.

Well, in the advanced settings of MainConcept (Standalone) I could not rearly compare the settings with Jeffs infos of the BD-specifications, because I used CBR and not 2-pass-VBR.

Interested in the way how Encore decides if transcoding is necessary or not, I did several tries: I imported a 20sec-sequence, which I had first encoded with my MainConcept Ref., all with CBR, but with bitrates 35Mbps, 34Mbps, 33Mbps, 32Mbps, 31Mbps, 30Mbps.

The result of these tries is, that Encore wanted to transcode all these imported files - except the 30Mbps file: Here "Don't transcode" !

Therefore I think / conclude that the preferences in the MainConcept Ref., - which I had never changed -, are not the cause for the Encore limitation.

I haven't used the stand-alone version, and the MainConcept web site doesn't have a lot of info beyond the fact that their version is expandable by purchasing more modules. I also don't know if they've tweaked their own encoder to produce better results than their licensed encoders.

x264 is a superior H.264 encoder. Period. The only problem with MeGui is it doesn't have MPEG-LA licensing, which is a huge drawback for serious professionals. However, the x264Pro plug-in for Premiere Pro does come with an MPEG-LA license.

One more guy here trying to get Encore BD compliant files that don't have to be transcoded.

I'm a bit odd in that I'm trying to get more video on the disc, hence I'm telling Adobe Media Encoder (CS6) to do a max bit rate of 8 Mbs -- obviously not caring much about the video quality. What drives me crazy is that sometimes Encore will accept files as "Do Not Transcode", sometimes it wants to retranscode them -- I really don't think I've changed the Media Encoder parameters.

Hopefully the people with the knowledge are still looking at this thread.

Tutorial was very nice! But didn't directly answer my problem. x264pro maybe be worth the $299, but really seems Adobe should make life easier in this area without it. Found that if I keep video & audio in seperate streams coming out of CS6 Adobe Media Encoder, Encore accepts without retranscoding, at least for a couple of small samples I tested. Hate to have a bunch of extra files hanging around though.

Jeff, this is a great tutorial. I have followed your steps but i am receiving an error in MeGUI upon opening the application after the frameserving has begun in Pr. Once i open MeGUI, i get the error message "Unable to render the file. You probably do not have the correct filters".

I am using CS5 and the source video is 1080i 29.97 fps. I considered using the x264 Pro trial version but it will not work in CS5.

Well, actually "elementary streams" means double, not +1. I often play files on BLU-RAY player from thumb drive. I think I'll have to put video & audio back in single file to do that. So elementary files are a hassle. Multiplexed files that Adobe Encore creates are of type "m2ts", found in STREAM folder of Adobe Encore output. These can always be imported as asset back into Adobe Encore without re-transcoding. I wonder what's so magical about them compared to what comes out of Adobe Media Encoder?